Thursday, March 24, 2011

When going on holiday (unless it's a trip that had been designed specifically for makan/ eating), I usually resign myself to the fact that I'll end up consuming yucky, overpriced food, especially in the tourist-y areas.

This time, we were in the middle one of the main shopping** areas in Kuah, which is the main town on the main Langkawi island. (** There were several shophouses selling a mind boggling variety of duty free alcohol (wine, vodka, whiskey, rum, etc), chocolates, kitchen stuff (corningware, etc), as well as other stuff llike souvenirs)

We were hungry and didn't know where to go. So, we just picked the Langkawi Sunshine restaurant because it was the nearest place to where we happened to be standing:

Outside Langkawi Sunshine....

It really is just a simple coffeeshop setting ("tai chow" style), and while they have a menu in English, the friendly waiter will gladly help recommend their specialties:

The "ambience" inside the restaurant....

We started off with the Deep Fried Tofu (RM 12):

Delicious tofu....

Honestly, we were surprised as we were off to a good start = The cubes of egg tofu were not silky smooth, but definitely smooth enough and had a lightly crisp and tasty coating.

I could never stand eating nam yue just like that, but have always been amazed how this salty, pungent, fermented bean curd could make pork ribs so yummy when it is used as part of the marinade.

Anyway, in some restaurants, the taste can be a bit overpowering... but here, it was balanced well, accentuating the sweetness of the pork. The meat could have been just a bit more tender but otherwise, this was nice.

We had a few very hungry guys at the table that day, so a few orders of carbs were essential. Our carb loading session started off with the Salted Fish Fried Rice (RM 18):

One of my favourites....

Overall, just ok.... Not great but not bad either, with a nice texture of rice (dry-ish and "one piece, one piece"), not too oily but lacking the adequate amount of wok hei to propel it to excellence.

Although we were already pleasantly surprised so far, the highlight of my meal there was the Bittergourd Venison Black Pepper Hor Fun (RM 28)

SO good....

Awesomeness:- Tender slices of venison (without that bad gamey taste - yay!),- Silky strands of noodles that were full of that lovely smokey wok hei (wok fried fragrance),- Fairly thick black pepper sauce that was tasty yet not overpowering, and- Moist slices of bittergourd that were not too bitter.

I repeat: AWESOME-ness! :D :D

The Tom Yam Bihun (RM 38) recommended was also nice:

Fiery but delicious....

Brimming with fresh pieces of squid, prawns and other goodies, it had the requisite qualities of a good tom yam (spicy and sour) but also with a hint of sweetness (from the seafood) and a slightly creamy texture - all in all, addictively satisfying without being too heavy.

The combination of spicy tom yam + afternoon sun made us feel a bit too warm unfortunately,... but we happily cooled off with a couple of beers (RM 2.50 per can - Madness! So cheap!!):

Yarmmmmmmm SENG!....

To be completely fair, I think the food prices at the restaurant are kind of inflated, which is (unfortunately) pretty much a given since the general area is a tourist trap.

Still, we had a really good meal, and if I'm ever back in Kuah/ Langkawi, I'm going there and ordering a whole plate of that Bittergourd Venison Black Pepper Hor Fun for MYSELF.:D